Equity CoLab logo

2024 Advancing Equity Summit

image gallery

program and speakers

7:00 AM

Registration & AR Experience

7:00 AM

Registration

View Restaurant

8:30 AM

Welcome to Country

View Restaurant Terrace Standing Space

The traditional country of the Kabi Kabi People in south-east Queensland spans from north of Brisbane to the Gregory and Isaac Rivers south of Bundaberg, including the Sunshine Coast and the volcanic Glasshouse Mountains. The Kabi Kabi thrived in diverse landscapes, from coastal shores to dense rainforests, sustained by abundant resources that supported large populations. They were organised into local groups that traded, engaged in ceremonies, and formed marriage alliances. The Kabi Kabi played a significant role in the Bunya Festivals held at the Bunya Mountains and had extensive networks with neighbouring tribes. Their land is rich with sacred sites, including bora rings, axe grinding, and painting sites, and many landmarks like the Glasshouse Mountains and Mudjimba Island bear traditional Kabi Kabi names.

6:00 AM

National Park sunrise walk and connecting with Country

Meet at View Restaurant Terrace Standing Space

Join us for a guided morning walk at Noosa National Park, where you will connect to Kabi Kabi country and center your commitment to advancing equity. As we traverse the beautiful trails, we will take moments to reflect on the rich history and cultural significance of the land, deepening our understanding and respect for the Kabi Kabi people. This walk offers a unique opportunity to ground ourselves in the past while envisioning a future of equity and inclusion, inspired by the wisdom and resilience of those who came before us.

8:45 AM

Introduction and framing for the day

Rainforest Room

Yesterday we built a shared understanding of the scale, urgency, and structural drivers of inequity. We explored the evidence, examined the systems that need to shift, and introduced key design principles—like prevention, long-term investment, and power-sharing.

Today, we continue to explore equity design principles and turn more fully to action. The focus is on the people and communities already leading change—and the skills, mindsets, and strategies needed to embed equity into practice and transform systems from within.

8:20 AM

Welcome to Country

View Restaurant Terrace

8:45 AM

Day 1 Introduction to the Equity CoLab's 2024 Advancing Equity Summit + Meet Your MC

Rainforest Room

9:00 AM

Equity in Context: Australia's History and Systemic Injustices

Rainforest Room

9:20 AM

Opening Keynote with Q&A – Equity: “Embracing the ALL without fear”

Rainforest Room

10:20 AM

Morning tea

View Restaurant Terrace

10:50 AM

Rethinking Solutions: How Systems Thinking Shapes a Fairer Future

Rainforest Room

11:25 AM

Visualising Inequity: How Data Shapes Our Understanding of Equity, Equality and Disadvantage in Australia

Rainforest Room

11:55 AM

Achieving Equity at Scale: Policy Solutions for a Fairer Australia

Rainforest Room

12:25 PM

Q&A Panel for mid-morning sessions

Rainforest Room

12:45 PM

Networking lunch and AR Experience

View Restaurant Terrace

1:45 PM

Workshop Series 1 – Innovations and Insights in Driving Structural Change for Equity: Case Studies in Housing, Health, and Cross-Sectoral Approaches for Older Australians.

Attendees choose to attend session A, B or C.

A – Pursuing Equitable Housing: Lessons from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities

Rainforest Room

B – Collaborative Strategic Reform: The Torres and Cape Healthcare Commissioning Fund Initiative

Ocean Room

C – Golden Age Investing: Policy Reforms for Equitable Ageing in Australia

Aqua Room

2:35 PM

Workshop Series 2 – Centring Equity in Systems Change: Deep(er) Dives into Principles, Power and Partnerships.

Attendees choose to attend session A, B or C

A – Locating Yourself in the System and Engaging with Power to Advance Equity

Rainforest Room

B – Principles and Pathways to Achieve Impact at Scale

Ocean Room

C – Leveraging Partnerships for Systemic Change: Lessons from Thriving Kids QLD

Aqua Room

3:20 PM

Afternoon tea

View Restaurant Terrace

4:05 PM

Transforming from Within: The Personal Journey to Drive Equity

Rainforest Room

4:30 PM

Day 1 Reflections

Rainforest Room

6:30 PM

Sunset drinks and dinner celebration

View Restaurant Terrace

6:00 AM

National Park sunrise walk and connecting with Country

Noosa National Park

8:30 AM

Day 2 Introduction

Rainforest Room

8:45 AM

Re-Patterning for Equity: Transforming Everyday Actions and Relationships

Rainforest Room

9:20 AM

Community-Led Change for Equity: How First Nations and Multicultural Communities Lead in Peacebuilding, Healing and Strengthening Democracy

Rainforest Room

9:50 AM

Panel Q&A

Rainforest Room

10:10 AM

Morning tea

View Restaurant Terrace

10:40 AM

Workshop 3 – Building Community: Lessons from Place-Based Intersectoral Collaboration for Equitable Change.

Attendees choose to attend session A, B or C.

A – Locals Leading the Way: Community-Driven Health Transformation in the Southern Moreton Bay Islands

Rainforest Room

B – Stronger Places Stronger People: Collaborative Success in the Gladstone Region

Ocean Room

C - Community Led Change for Equity – Deeper Dive

Aqua Room

11:25 AM

Workshop 4 – Equity by Design: Integrating Data, Evidence and Continuous Learning into Workplace, Program, Service and Policy Design.

Attendees choose to attend session A, B or C.

A – Creating Gender Equitable Workplaces: Addressing Structural Barriers and Cultivating Inclusive Cultures

Rainforest Room

B – A New Practice Framework: Addressing Systemic Issues Faced by Marginalised Young People

Ocean Room

C – Restacking the Odds: Enhancing Early Childhood Service Quality and Equity with Evidence-Based Indicators

Aqua Room

12:10 PM

Networking lunch and AR Experience

View Restaurant Terrace

1:10 PM

Panel Discussions

Choose one of two sessions

1 – Innovative Funding Strategies and Collaborations: Advancing Equity through Effective Financial Models

Rainforest Room

Thriving Kids Queensland Partnership: Innovative Approaches to Funding for Child Wellbeing

Investment Dialogue for Australia’s Children and the Queensland Kid Funders Alliance: Collaborative Funding Models for Long-Term Impact

Achieve Foundation and Disability Funders Network: Redefining Funding Strategies to Support Inclusive and Equitable Outcomes

2 – Equity in Governance

Ocean/Aqua Room

Australian Business Volunteers: Enhancing Community-Led Disaster Resilience

CQID: Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children through Self-Determination, Delegated Authority and the Power of Community

Collaboration for Impact: Driving Community-Led Climate Justice

2:15 PM

Equity In and Through Community: The Role of Social Innovation in Advancing Regional Wellbeing

Rainforest Room

2:45 PM

Panel Q&A

Rainforest Room

3:00 PM

Monday Morning and Beyond: Reflect, Commit, and Shape Future Actions with The Equity CoLab

Rainforest Room

3:35 PM

Thank you and close

Rainforest Room

Afternoon tea available in View Restaurant Terrace

Keira Lowther Headshot

Keira Lowther

Senior Program Manager, Centre for Public Impact

Keira has a background in nursing, public health and palliative care, with a BSc Nursing Science from the University of Hull, a Master’s in Public Health Nutrition from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a PhD in Palliative Care from King’s College London. She has worked across acute and public health, academia, social research and service improvement. Today, Keira focuses on helping organisations adopt evaluation approaches that serve learning and impact. She brings a power-literacy and equity lens to her facilitation and, as a certified coach, supports groups in grappling with the deeper challenges of service and systems transformation.

Thea Snow Headshot

Thea Snow

Director, Centre for Public Impact, Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand

Thea is Director at the Centre for Public Impact, with experience across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. She has worked as a commercial lawyer, public servant, and at Nesta, the UK’s innovation foundation. Recognised as a thought leader, Thea was named one of Apolitical’s most influential public sector innovators. She holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the London School of Economics, where she received the Peter Self Prize for best dissertation.

Andrew Cohen Headshot

Andrew Cohen

CEO, ForHealth Group

Andrew is CEO and part-owner of ForHealth, Australia’s largest bulk-billing general practice and urgent care provider, delivering over 8 million patient visits annually. Over the past 5 years, Andrew and his team have transformed the business with a mission of accessible healthcare for low socioeconomic, outer metropolitan and regional Australians. He has also served as CEO of Bellamy’s Organic, where he led a 4-year turnaround and $1.5b sale, and was previously a Partner at Bain & Co. Andrew holds an MBA from Cambridge (Dux) and a Commerce & Arts degree from the University of Melbourne.

Cathy Boorman Headshot

Cathy Boorman

Co-Director, The Good Shift

Cathy is is Co-Director with The Good Shift, bringing a career spanning teaching, research, social policy, service system delivery, citizen engagement, government-industry collaboration and community-based crime prevention. She has held practice and leadership roles across community, university, local and state government sectors. Cathy is passionate about supporting diverse actors to work, innovate and learn together to tackle complex challenges, with a long-standing focus on place-based approaches to improving wellbeing.

Julie Sturgess Headshot

Julie Sturgess

Chief Executive, Country to Coast Queensland (PHN)

Julie is CEO of Country to Coast Queensland, a Primary Health Network (PHN) working to improve health equity across regional and rural communities.

She brings more than 30 years of experience across clinical care, health service design, digital health and executive leadership, including as CEO of Healthy North Coast (North Coast PHN) and Principal Health Specialist at Telstra Health.

Julie is a passionate advocate for system reform that centres community voice and strengthens rural and remote care. She has led primary health responses to climate-related disasters, from regional droughts to flooding, including during and after the devastating 2022 Lismore flood events. Her work focuses on digital innovation, equity focused reform and the partnerships needed to address the social and environmental drivers of health.

Matt Donoghue Headshot

Matt Donoghue

Professional Economist and Executive at Treasury and Finance

Matt is Director of the Early Intervention and Reform Team at the Department of Treasury and Finance. In this role, he has overseen the establishment and embedding of wellbeing impact analysis in budgets through the Victorian Government’s Early Intervention and Investment Framework. He has extensive experience working on government budgets and previously served as the Director in the Office of the Secretary. Matt also has a Master of Economics from the University of Melbourne.

Nathan Baunach Headshot

Nathan Baunach

General Manager of Community and Social Impact
Brisbane Broncos

Nathan Baunach is the Broncos’ General Manager of Community and Social Impact, appointed in October 2024. He brings more than 15 years’ experience across secondary education, community services and charitable work in urban, remote and very remote Northern Territory, including with First Nations communities. 

Nathan leads programs that strengthen wellbeing and opportunity through partnerships, evidence and practical support. He is focused on building on the club’s established Social Impact work, future-proofing programs and expanding their reach so more people benefit from the Broncos platform.

Kate Cullen Headshot

Kate Cullen

Chief of Staff and Strategy
Brisbane Broncos

Kate Cullen is Chief of Staff and Strategy at the Brisbane Broncos, a role she has held since 2023. With a background spanning corporate strategy, stakeholder engagement, and executive advisory, Kate plays a pivotal role in shaping the club’s long-term direction and ensuring alignment across its commercial, football, and community operations. 

Prior to joining the Broncos, Kate held senior roles in the private sector, where she developed expertise in organisational transformation, governance, and people-focused leadership. She is particularly passionate about leveraging sport as a platform for positive social change, drawing on her experience working with diverse communities and driving initiatives that create sustainable impact. 

At the Broncos, Kate works closely with the executive team and Board to translate strategic vision into actionable priorities, ensuring that the club remains both high-performing on the field and deeply connected off it. She is motivated by the opportunity to contribute to a legacy organisation with an unparalleled platform to inspire and excite. 

Meaghan Burkett headshot

Meaghan Burkett

Ethical Fields Executive Director and Place Based Capital Lead

Meaghan Burkett is a passionate advocate for community-led and inclusive economic development. Meaghan is the founder of the Place Based Capital Initiative and an Executive Director with both Ethical Fields and the Centre for Community Capital. She specialises in unlocking capital systems that put economic power back in the hands of communities, building local ownership, control, inclusion, resilience and prosperity.

With two decades of experience in strategy, policy and place-based initiatives across government, non-government and private sectors, Meaghan has designed and delivered transformative programs including the Place Based Capital Program and the Natural Capital and Environmental Markets Leadership Program. Her work is informed by a recent year-long National Community Wealth Building Tour, visiting more than 30 communities across Australia to share and learn about local capital solutions.

Stan Grant headshot

Stan Grant

Journalist, author, moral philosopher, Director of Constructive Institute (AP)

Stan Grant is a renowned journalist, author, moral philosopher, thinker, film maker and communicator.

A Wiradjuri, Kamilaroi and Dharrawal man, Stan has forged a groundbreaking four-decade career as one of Australia’s most awarded journalists — the first Indigenous Political Correspondent, the first Indigenous Foreign Correspondent, and the first Indigenous person to present a prime-time commercial television news and current affairs program.

From reporting on the end of apartheid in South Africa, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the rise of China, to producing the internationally acclaimed documentary The Australian Dream, Stan’s work spans more than 70 countries and some of the most defining stories of our time. His impact is recognised through multiple Walkley Awards, Logies, Asia TV Awards, Peabody Awards, and more.

Today, as Monash University Professor of Journalism and Director of the Asia Pacific arm of the Constructive Institute, Stan is dedicated to improving the quality of public discourse and finding new ways to meet each other beyond our differences.

On joining the Summit, Stan says:

“Equity means being seen and heard, but more than that, believing something and having courage.”

Dr Michael McAfee Headshot

Dr Michael McAfee

CEO, PolicyLink (USA) 

Dr Michael McAfee is a public policy strategist and one of the United States’ most influential voices on equity. As President and CEO of PolicyLink, a national research and action institute advancing racial and economic equity, he leads transformative efforts to redesign systems so that all people can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential.

Michael’s work spans grassroots organising, federal policy reform, and private sector engagement. He is a powerful advocate for embedding equity into the structures that shape daily life, from education and housing to workforce systems and corporate strategy.

Under his leadership, PolicyLink played a pivotal role in making the Promise Neighborhoods initiative a permanent federal program, driving billions of dollars into historically underinvested communities and improving outcomes for over 300,000 children. He also catalysed the development of the Corporate Racial Equity Advantage, the first comprehensive tool to help businesses assess and advance equity across their value chains.

Michael holds a Doctorate in Human and Organisational Learning from The George Washington University and completed the Executive Program in Public Management at Harvard University. He is a former military service member, an experienced changemaker, and a passionate believer in the power of evidence, humanity and love to drive social transformation.

His work challenges institutions to move beyond performative gestures and build real accountability for a just and equitable future.

Cormac Russell Headshot

Cormac Russell

Managing Director of Nurture Development, social explorer, author and speaker

Cormac is a social explorer, author and internationally renowned speaker. As the Founding Director of Nurture Development and member of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute (ABCD) at DePaul University he has spent over 25 years working in 35 countries to empower communities through citizen-led change.

Cormac’s work has shaped community development in Africa, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe and North America. His books, including The Connected Community – Discovering the Health, Wealth, and Power of Neighbourhoods and Rekindling Democracy – A Professional’s Guide to Working in Citizen Space, champion local wisdom and power of connected neighbourhoods.

In his inspiring TEDxExeter talk “From What’s Wrong to What’s Strong”, Cormac challenges traditional approaches to community support, urging us to recognise the strengths and gifts that already exist within communities, and what becomes possible when we centre people and place in systems change.

Cormac will be joining us via live video stream, and we’re delighted to have his insights featured as part of the Summit program.

Dr Niki Vincent Headshot

Dr Niki Vincent

Commissioner for gender equality in the public sector (Victoria)

Dr Niki is an award-winning change maker and leader in gender equality and inclusive systems reform. As Victoria’s inaugural Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner at the Commission for Gender Equality in the Public Sector (Vic) she is driving one of Australia’s most ambitious public sector reforms – implementing the nation’s first Gender Equality Act, impacting over 300 organisations, 450,000 employees and the broader community.

With a PhD in Psychology and a career spanning statutory offices, academia and community sectors, Niki brings a deep understanding of how to turn policy into meaningful change. Her leadership roles have included Commissioner for Equal Opportunity SA, CEO of the Leaders Institute of South Australia, and advisory positions with Jobs and Skills Australia and the University of South Australia.

Known for her clarity of purpose and evidence-informed approach, Niki will bring a sharp and strategic perspective to conversations on equity, inclusive leadership and systems change to the Summit.

Professor Sharon Friel

ARC Laureate Fellow and Professor of Health Equity, ANU

Professor Sharon Friel is an ARC Laureate Fellow and Professor of Health Equity. She is Director of the Planetary Health Equity Hothouse and the Australian Research Centre for Health Equity (ARCHE) at the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet), The Australian National University.

She is a Fellow of both the Academy of Social Sciences Australia and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.

From 2014 to 2019, Sharon served as Director of RegNet, and earlier led the Scientific Secretariat of the World Health Organization Commission on the Social Determinants of Health at University College London from 2005 to 2008. In 2014, she was recognised by her international peers as one of the world’s most influential female leaders in global health.

Her research interests include the political economy of health equity, and the governance of the social, commercial and planetary determinants of health inequities — with a particular focus on climate change, food systems, trade and investment. Her 2019 book, Climate Change and the People’s Health, explores the global consumptogenic system and its impacts on health.

Photo of Katherine Trebeck

Professor Katherine Trebeck

Professor Health Equity & NHMRC Investigator Fellow, Stretton Inst., UoA​

Dr Katherine Trebeck is a political economist and global advocate for building equitable and sustainable economic systems. Her work sits at the intersection of policy, practice and public dialogue — shifting how economies are designed, not just to grow, but to serve people and the planet.

She holds key roles including:
• Economic Change Lead at The Next Economy
• Strategic Advisor to the Centre for Policy Development
• Writer-at-Large at the University of Edinburgh

Katherine co-founded the Wellbeing Economy Alliance – WEAll and WEAll Scotland, and was instrumental in establishing the Wellbeing Economy Governments (WEGo) initiative — a collaboration between governments such as Scotland, New Zealand and Finland to centre wellbeing in national economic priorities.

Her work advances equity by embedding human and ecological wellbeing into economic decision-making. She’s thinker-in-residence at the Australian Health Promotion Association, a fellow at the ZOE Institute and the Post Growth Institute, and serves on the boards of Hands Across Canberra and the Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity. She is also a member of the Club of Rome.

Katherine is co-author of The Economics of Arrival and is a frequent speaker on how to reimagine prosperity through justice and care.

Photo of Andrew Scott

Professor Andrew Scott

Emeritus Professor of Politics and Policy Deakin University and author

Professor Andrew Scott will be joining us on the Equity CoLab National Summit stage this October!

Andrew is Emeritus Professor of Politics and Policy at Deakin University and the author of five books, including Northern Lights: The Positive Policy Example of Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway, which has recently been translated into Japanese. He is also lead editor and contributor to three chapters of The Nordic Edge: Policy Possibilities for Australia.

Northern Lights was endorsed by Nobel Laureate Professor Peter Doherty, while The Nordic Edge received praise from Professor Fiona Stanley, former Australian of the Year. Both books have sold thousands of copies and helped bring international policy inspiration into Australian debate.

Andrew’s recent research has helped the national government extend paid parental leave and move toward universal early childhood education and care. He continues to advocate for further actions to improve equity in Australia.

Photo of Fran Baum

Professor Fran Baum AO

Professor Health Equity & NHMRC Investigator Fellow, Stretton Inst., UoA​

Professor Fran Baum is a public health social scientist with a deep commitment to creating and advocating for healthy, equitable and sustainable societies. Her career spans research, advocacy and global movement-building — and she is widely recognised as one of Australia’s most influential voices on health equity.

She is Director of Stretton Health Equity, Stretton Institute at the University of Adelaide and an NHMRC Investigator Leadership Fellow. Fran was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for her distinguished service to public health and is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and the Australian Health Promotion Association.

Fran is a past National President and Life Member of the Public Health Association of Australia, and the immediate past Co-Chair of the Global Steering Council of the People’s Health Movement — a global network of health activists working to advance the right to health and challenge structural injustice.

She is also a member of the BMJ International Advisory Board and author of over 400 publications, including:
• The New Public Health
• Governing for Health
• Co-editor of the Oxford Textbook of Global Public Health

Fran brings a rare combination of deep academic insight and long-standing advocacy for systems transformation.